4 killed coming out of Gaza tunnels, says Israeli military
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Hamas militants prepare to enter a tunnel to retreive a body in an area north of Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on Oct 28.
PHOTO: AFP
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JERUSALEM – The Israeli army said on Nov 30 it had killed four Palestinian militants coming out of tunnels in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip.
Dozens of Hamas fighters are holed up in southern Gaza’s tunnels, underneath areas controlled by the Israeli military.
Israeli troops continue operating in the eastern Rafah area, the military said in a statement.
Overnight, “four terrorists who exited underground infrastructure in the area were identified. Guided by the Israeli Air Force, the troops eliminated the terrorists”, it said.
“IDF (Israeli army) troops in the Southern Command remain deployed in accordance with the ceasefire agreement and will continue to operate to remove any immediate threat.”
On Nov 28, Israel’s military said more than 30 fighters who had attempted to flee the tunnels had been killed.
Multiple sources told AFP on Nov 27 that negotiations were under way regarding the fate of the fighters still in south Gaza’s tunnel network.
On Nov 26, Hamas called on mediating countries to pressure Israel to allow safe passage – the first time the Islamist group had publicly acknowledged the situation.
The US-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hamas
Under its terms, the Israeli army withdrew behind the so-called Yellow Line within the Gaza Strip, a boundary marked on the surface with yellow concrete blocks.
The Hamas militants are in tunnels located on the Israeli-controlled side of the Yellow Line.
A prominent Hamas member in Gaza told AFP that the group estimated their number to be between 60 and 80.
The ceasefire remains fragile, with Israel and Hamas accusing each other of violating the terms, while the Gaza Strip remains in a deep humanitarian crisis.
The Gaza war was sparked by Hamas’ Oct 7, 2023 attack
Israel’s retaliatory assault on Gaza has killed at least 70,100 people
